One-piece plastic hinge



y 6, 1965 L. E. HlMELRElCH ONE-'PIECE PLASTIC HINGE Filed Aug. 20, 1962 INVENTOR LOLHS E, H\MELRE\CH BY m2. smwa ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,192,556 ONE-PIECE PLASTIC HINGE Louis E. Himeh'eich, Louisville, Ky, assignor to H. J. Scheirich Company, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of Kentucky Filed Aug. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 217,9fi7 4 Claims. (Cl. 116- 159) This invention relates to hinges and more particularly to hinges formed of plastic and having a portion adapted for securement to a hinged structure by means of adhesives or similar frictional engagement.

Various plastic materials, notably polypropylene, are employed for hinge constructions, but when adhesives are used for securing the plastic hinge in its working relation, difiiculty is experienced with the maintaining of the bond between such hinge and that adhesive. This is particularly evident when relatively heavy loadings are imposed upon the plastic hinge parts. It is this and other disadvantages found in the use of plastic hinges in cabinet constructions, and the like, which the present invention is intended to overcome.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved one-piece plastic hinge.

Another object i to provide an improved one-piece plastic hinge having an ornamental plate portion securable to one structural member of a hinged assembly by screws or the like, and a prong portion secnrable within a recess of the other structural member of the assembly by adhesives or other frictional engagement.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the description proceeds and when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of the hinge.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view to a larger scale taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1 and with the hinge positioned in operative relation to a hinged assembly shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the hinge, and FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the center plane of the hinge axis at line 4-4 of FIG. 1.

In accordance with the invention I provide a one-piece hinge of plastic material with a prong portion which is held in place by means of adhesive within a recess in one member of a hinged assembly and with that prong portion being substantially free of flexing stresses. The prong portion is integral with an intermediate hinge portion containing the hinge axis and in turn the intermediate portion is integral with a plate portion which normally will be secured by screws or the like to the complementary member of the hinged assembly after the prong portion has first been secured to its corresponding member of that assembly. Referring first to FIG. 2, one arrangement for employing the invention may include a structural member such, for example, as the front frame of a kitchen cabinet having an edge 11 defining the opening into the cabinet and an outer visible surface 12 upon which the hinge is to be mounted. A door 13 forms the other member of the hinged assembly and has an outer visible surface 14 and a visible edge 15. Extending inwardly from edge 15 is an elongated recess 16 of generally rectangular cross section shown by dotted lines and formed by conventional wood working tools. Use of such tools, however, may entail some marring of the surface immediately adjacent the opening into the recess and as a feature of the invention this problem is overcome in conjunction with the provision of a hinge design which eliminates undue flexing of the prong portion of the hinge and which permits the hinge to hide such a marred surface.

ice

As seen in FIG. 1, the entire hinge comprises a moldthe region of the important hinge axis is improved for carrying out its intended hinging action. As will .be ap-. preciated, however, the plastic material does not present a good bonding surface to conventional adhesives. This disadvantage is overcome by reason of the design of the hinge prong which has at its upper end a solid plug portion 2% fitting closely within the outer end of recess 16 and providing a substantial bearing against the inner periphery of that recess and additionally confining any adhesive which previously has been deposited in the recess.

Projecting from this plug portion is a flat wall section 21' having a length greater than its depth and with a width substantially less than the width of the'recess, Intermediate the longitudinal ends of the wall section and spaced from those ends and from each other, arrays of laterally projecting ledges are provided on each lateral face of the central wall section. Each of these ledges has an upper face generally normal to the plane of the central wall section 21 and extending into close proximity to the Wall of the recess 16 as shown by ledges 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 on one side of the wall section of the prong and by the corresponding ledges 22A to 26A on the other side of that wall section. The lower faces of the ledges, however, are slanted downwardly toward the central wall section thus providing spaces for adhesive and resulting in the well-known fish hook resistance toward withdrawal of the prong from the recess when the adhesive has set. Since adequate space is available in the end regions 27 and Z8 and in the region 29 between adjacent ends of the arrays of ledges, adhesive can flow and distribute itself within the recess 16 when the prong position of the hinge is inserted into member 13. Accordingly despite the poor bonding of adhesive to plastic, the prong of the hinge is firmly and uniformly anchored by the bonding of the ad.- hesive to the material constituting the member 13 and by the presence of the set adhesive above the respective ledges of that prong. I

The prong thus described is joined integrally to the flat underside of an intermediate portion of the hinge and is offset inwardly from the ends 30, 31 and sides 32, 33 of that intermediate portion. Thus, when the prong is installed in the recess 16 the underside of the-intermediate portion lies flush against the outer surface of edge 15, centers the plug section of the prong within its recess, and covers any marred area of the edge 15 caused during the formation of that recess. As noted, from FIG. 2, the cross-sectional thickness of the intermediate portion, measured normal to the hinge axis, is greatest near the junction thereof with the prong portion, and diminishes to a minimum at the region which contains the hinge axis 35. Beyond that hinge axis the intermediate portion is integrally joined to a side wall 36 of the plate portion of the hinge, this side wall serving to space the hinge axis from the back wall 37 of the plate portion and to give sufiicient depth to the plate portion to aiford a secure fastening thereof to the member 10 in the manner now to be described.

In the front face of the plate portion a plurality of holes 38 and 39 are provided for receiving screws, bolts, or the like (not shown). These holes are formed with counter-sunk faces to assure a neat external appearance and, preferably, the exposed edges of the front face are formed with an arcuate configuration best seen at 40, 41 and 42 in FIG. 1. Since the triangle space 43 be- Patented July 6, 1965 tween the side wall of the plate portion and the larger part of the intermediate portion is hidden from view, the visible portion of the hinge therefore may easily be kept clean and possesses a neat and attractive appearance which particularly is desirable when used upon cabinets or the like. The use of plastic which tends to spring back to a normal position also afiiords an opportunity for a more secure fastening action by use of a central recess 44 in the back wall of the plate portion including the holes through which the screws pass. When these screws are tightened the back wall then is deformed and adopts a tight frictional engagement with the flat surface of member 10.

When used upon kitchen cabinets, for example, the weight of that hinged door and even abnormal loadings such as a child attempting to ride such a door, must be accommodated by the hinge. Such conditions may be overcome by reinforcement of the intermediate portion in the region of the hinge axis and as seen in FIG. 4, the section of plastic material at this point has its minimum thickness at the central part 50 which, for example, may be about 0.015 inch in one type of hinge used for a kitchen cabinet door. This central portion merges into adjacent portions 51 and 52 which may be about 0.030 inch in thickness and these in turn merge into still thicker portions 53 and 54 at the ends of the hinge axis which may be about 0.040 inch in thickness.

With the foregoing description in mind, various advantages of the present invention will now be apparent to those skilled in the art. The presence of a much greater thickness of material in the intermediate portion of the hinge between the prong and the hinge axis serves to diminish flexing stresses at the point where the prong enters its recess. The presence of the plug or bearing portion of the prong also serves to prevent shifting of the prong even if some stressing should reach the prong.

Thus the hinge does not tend to work loose from an adhesive fastening even though it is made of plastic. The entire hinge, moreover, may be molded in one piece in a single molding operation thus contributing to a reduction in cost.

Having thus described the invention and its attendant advantages, it is intended that the appended claims are to cover such changes and modifications of the described invention as come within the true spirit and scope of the same.

What is claimed is:

1. A one-piece hinge of plastic material including a plate portion adapted for fastening by means of screws upon an exposed surface of one member a hinged assembly, said plate portion having an aperture therethrough for receiving a fastening screw and an outwardly projecting side wall section for establishing the location of the hinge axis in forwardly spaced relation to the back wall of said plate portion,

a prong portion having a non-circular transverse crosssection and adapted for fastening by means of an adhesive bond Within a recess in the cooperating second member of said assembly,

and an intermediate portion joining said plate and prong portions and integral therewith, said intermediate portion being joined to the outer edge of said wall section and including a hinge axis located adjacent the junction of said intermediate and plate portions,

said intermediate portion having a reduced cross sectional thickness at said hinge axis and a greater cross sectional thickness adjacent'its juncture with said prong portion, as measured normal to said hinge axis, thereby to reduce flexing of said prong portion and the danger of loosening said prong portion from its adhesive bond within said second member.

2. A hinge as defined in claim 1 wherein said reduced thickness of said intermediate portion varies from a minimum at the central region along said axis to a maximum at the respective ends of said axis.

3. A one-piece hinge of plastic material including a plate portion adapted for fastening by means of screws upon an exposed surface of one member of a hinged assembly, said plate portion having a back wall section with an aperture therethrough for receiving a fastening screw and a side wall section projecting forwardly from saidback wall section for establishing the location of the hinge axis in spaced relation to said back Wall section,

a prong portion having a non-circular transverse crosssection and adapted for fastening by means of an adhesive bond within a recess in the cooperating second member of said assembly, said prong portion extending generally parallel to the-plane of said back wall section of said plate portion and having ledges on at least two sides thereof for engagement with adhesive contained within said recess,

and an intermediate portion joining said plate and prong portions and integral therewith, said intermediate portion being joined to the outer edge of said wall section and including a hinge axis located adjacent the junction of said intermediate and plate portions,

the cross-sectional thickness of said intermediate portion as measured normal to said hinge axis varying from a minimum at said hinge axis to a maximum at the junction of said intermediate and prong portions thereby to reduce. flexing of said prong portion and the danger of loosening said prong portion from its adhesive bond within said second member.

4. A one-piece hinge of plastic material including a plate portion adapted for fastening by means of screws upon an exposed surface of one member of a hinged assembly, said plate portion having an aperture therethrough for receiving a fastening screw,

a prong portion adapted for fastening by means of an adhesive bondwithin a recess in a second member of said assembly and including a central wall section having a length greater than its depth and a width less than the Width of said recess,

said wall section having arrays of ledges on two opposite sides thereof with the edges of said ledges extending into close proximity to the walls of said recess and with said arrays on the respective sides being spaced from each other and from the respective longitudinal ends of said wall section,

and an intermediate portion joining said plate and prong portions and including a hinge axis located adjacent the juncture of said intermediate and plate por-, tions and spaced from the back wall of said plate portion,

said intermediate portion having a reduced thickness at said hinge axis and a greater thickness adjacent its juncture with said prong portion thereby to reduce flexing of said prong portion and the danger of loosening said prong portion from its adhesive bond within said second member.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,162,604 6/39 Clow. 2,687,157 8/54 Cowan. 2,852,054 9/58 Motley. 2,927,340 3/60 McMahon 16-459 3,009,169 11/61 Bodner. 3,019,486 2/62 Stinson. 3,075,235 1/ 63 Albinson 16-462 X FOREIGN PATENTS 197,948 5/58 Austria. 1,241,515 8/60 France.

3 82,047 9/23 Germany.

DONLEY J. STOCKING, Primary Examiner. 

1. A ONE-PIECE HINGE OF PLASTIC MATERIAL INCLUDING A PLATE PORTION ADAPTED FOR FASTENING BY MEANS OF SCREWS UPON AN EXPOSED SURFACE OF ONE MEMBER A HINGED ASSEMBLY, SAID PLATE PORTION HAVING AN APERTURE THERETHROUGH FOR RECEIVING A FASTENING SCREW AND AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING SIDE WALL SECTION FOR ESTABLISHING THE LOCATION OF THE HINGE AXIS IN FORWARDLY SPACED RELATION TO THE BACK WALL OF SAID PLATE PORTION, A PRONG PORTION HAVING A NON-CIRCULAR TANSVERSE CROSSSECTION AND ADAPTED FOR FASTENING BY MEANS OF AN ADHESIVE BOND WITHIN A RECESS IN THE COOPERATING SECOND MEMBER OF SAID ASSEMBLY, 